Late Night Chats and Wumboozles
by LadyArtemis13
Summary: All Harry wanted was a little time alone in the Room of Requirement. He just wanted to take his mind off of his nightmares. What he didn't expect was for everyone's favorite Ravenclaw to be there.


**Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own Harry Potter. I assure you, if I did, I would not be writing on fanfiction and Sirius/Dobby/Dumbledore/Remus/Tonks/Mad-Eye/Hedwig/Snape would not have died. ;)**

**AN: This takes place sometime during _Half-Blood Prince__. _I haven't quite decided exactly when...so…just pick a time.**

Harry knew it was a risky move. He shouldn't have left his cloak in the tower. It probably wasn't smart to leave the map either. _Snape will kill me if he catches me or McGonagall for that matter. Hermione too come to think of it'_

Yet, Harry found he didn't much care. What did it matter if he got one little detention? What did it matter if Gryffindor lost a few points? _Sirius_, and Harry's heart clenched painfully at just the thought of his name, _would still be dead_. The nightmares, watching him fall through the Veil over and over and over again, would still come. Those nightmares were in fact the reason he was out past curfew.

He'd been lying awake in bed, unable to fall asleep, trying to clear his mind of the same images he saw every night and Ron's snores weren't helping. He had finally just gotten up, restless. On a whim, in a very Gryfffindorish manner, he had decided on a venture to the Room of Requirement. When he'd entered the room, he hadn't expected to see anyone else there.

The room was rather nice; thick, comfortable white carpeting, deep blue walls, and a fireplace burning merrily in the corner. Opposite the doorway, which Harry found himself stopped in, was a large window with a beautiful, though obviously false, view of the lake. Standing in front of the window, her back to him, was a slender figure with long light blonde hair, wand tucked behind her ear.

"Hello, Harry" she said without even turning around.

"Luna!" Harry exclaimed. "How did you know it was me?"

She finally turned and he saw that her pale blue eyes, though still rather dreamy, held a spark of mischief, as if she found his surprise amusing.

"The wumboozles told me" she said matter of factly."They always know when someone is out after hours."

"Err, of course Luna. I should have known." Harry had always found it easiest to just entertain Luna's belief of odd creatures. _Besides, if an entire world can be hidden from muggles, who's to say they don't really exist?_

"Though, they didn't tell me why you were out late. Would you mind telling me Harry?" she asked innocently. By now her eyes had that familiar dreamy quality again.

Harry didn't much want to talk about Sirius. But, for some reason, he found he couldn't say no to Luna. When he actually began telling her everything that happened, including how Sirius had been innocent, he realized that telling Luna hadn't been nearly as hard as he thought it would. He was also surprised when he realized he never once had to try and hold back tears. '_Maybe I'm just all dried up. I've cried all the tears I possibly can.'_

When he had finished he looked at Luna and, to his slight surprise, saw that the dreamy far off look she usually sported had been replaced by a sort of _understanding_ look. Did she know what it was like? Did she know how it felt to lose a truly loved one? He wanted to ask but knew it would probably be a little too personal. He could almost hear Hermione's voice in his head. '_Harry James Potter! Don't you dare ask her such a question! Honestly, do you not know any better? I thought Ronald was the only one with the emotional range of a teaspoon.'_

He was startled out of his thoughts by Luna's voice. "It was my mother" she said sadly.

"I'm sorry?" Harry asked confused. _When did we start talking about her parents?_

"It was my mother I lost. She liked to experiment with potions and spells and one day, when I was seven, she mixed the wrong ingredients with the wrong spell. We had to repair the entire east side of the house." At some point she had turned back to the window but now she looked him in the eyes and he saw that she was close to tears. Her large blue eyes were definitely watery. She seemed to be doing all that she could to hold them back.

"Luna…" he began. He didn't know what to say. _How did she even know what I was thinking?_ But, as it turned out, he didn't need to say anything because suddenly the dam seemed to burst. Before he knew what had happened Luna's arms were around his neck and her face was buried in his chest, his arms wrapped around her. He could feel her tears soaking his shirt, yet found he didn't much care.

Harry just calmly rubbed her back murmuring soothing nothings in her ear. He idly wondered why it wasn't awkward with Luna, as it would be with any other girl. _Except maybe 'Mione. But she's like my sister. _It was a good while before she pulled back. She did, however, keep her arms wrapped round his neck while his hands slid to grip her waist.

She sniffled. "I'm sorry, Harry. It's just… I've never told anyone that story before." She tried to wipe away the tears, but they continued to fall slowly. "Not even Ginny. I usually try not to think about it, but today was the anniversary. I don't even know why I'm still crying. It was years ago."

Harry lightly, gently, wiped away her last remaining tears, "Luna, it's okay to cry. You don't always have to be strong."

She looked up at him with big blue eyes, rimmed with a little pink from her tears. "Maybe you should start listening to your own advice Harry. You don't always have to be the big strong hero." It was then Harry realized how close they were. By now their faces were only inches apart.

"To be honest," Harry began "I think I cried all my tears long ago, years maybe. Besides, times like these someone has to be a big strong hero ready to save the damsel in distress." He grinned at her and was rewarded with a light laugh.

"Well," Luna said, inching her face just a little closer to his, "I promise you can always be my hero so long as I'm always your damsel. Deal?"

"Deal."

With that he closed the distance between them and their lips met in a soft kiss filled with… _something_. Maybe it wasn't quite love, not yet anyway, but it was pretty damn close. A few moments later they pulled back and just stared at each other. It was about a minute before the silence was broken.

"We'd better get back to bed. I'd hate for the wumboozles to tell Professor Snape we were out after hours."

And this time it was Harry who laughed.

**AN: Ehh, the ending was sorta corny, but I liked it. Hope you guys did too. Feel free to leave a review or even flame if you want. I'm just happy you read my story. :)**

_**~LadyArtemis**_


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